2. Pie
nce
Mi
Mince Pies, “Christmas Pies,” originally were filled
with meat such as lamb.
Today they tend to be filled with a dried fruit.
They were first made in an oval shape to
represent the manger that Jesus slept in as a baby.
During the Stuart and Georgian times in the UK,
mince pies were a status symbol at Christmas.
Having these fancy pies meant that you were rich
and could afford the best.
Today they are normally made in round shape and
can be eaten hot or cold.
3. Make it
Yourself
Yields: 8 servings
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ingredients:
Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie
1 quart prepared mincemeat
Brandy to taste
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pie pastry.
Spoon prepared mincemeat into pastry-lined plate. Add brandy
to your taste. Cover with remaining pastry and flute. Cut slits in
pastry so steam can escape. Cover edge with aluminum foil to
prevent excessive browning.
Bake pie 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.
Remove aluminum foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Remove
from oven and cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
This pie stores well in the freezer.
4. oose
st G
Roa
A roasted goose has long been the
traditional Christmas meat of choice.
Geese are excellent to eat at the end of
the year after having feasted on fallen
corn.
They were thus used at the end of the
year harvests in the Middle Ages and
eaten in ancient Greece to ensure the
crop’s success in the following months.
It was only natural for goose to become
a choice for Christmas celebrations as it
took the place of other winter solstice
festivities.
5. Make it
Yourself
Yields:
5-6 servings for 8-10lb goose
6-8 servings for 11-12lb goose
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 1hr 30 min
Ingredients:
1 goose
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
½ yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 head garlic
½ cup of Madeira wine
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock (for gravy)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Root vegetables to roast with the goose,
such as carrots, parsnips, and potatoes
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
If the goose has been refrigerated, bring it to room
temperature before cooking.
Remove the neck and giblets (heart, gizzard, liver) and use
for the gravy. Remove all excess fat and save it for cooking.
Next prick the goose’s skin all over with a needle to give
cooked fat somewhere to go and allow the skin to crisp.
Season the goose and place in the oven.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Rub all over with
the cut half of a lemon and put inside the goose. Start the
gravy, add root vegetables to the goose after 20 minutes.
When time is up, carve goose and serve.
6. ark
ay B
olid
H
Holiday bark is traditionally made with
peppermint, a flavor often associated
with the holiday season.
Once cooked fully, the bark is broken
up into angled pieces, resembling tree
bark (which is where it got its name).
There are a wide variety of
ingredients that can be added to
candy bark including fruits and nuts
7. Make it
Yourself
Yields: 1 ½ pounds
Prep time: 30 min
Set/Cook time: 1 hr 5 min
Ingredients:
1 lb finely chopped white chocolate
1 ½ teaspoons nut or plain oil
½ cup dried cranberries
1 ¼ cup shelled pistachios
Equipment:
Double boiler
Preparation:
Pour a couple inches of water into bottom half of double
boiler and heat to just below a simmer. Pour chocolate
into top half of double boiler; slowly stir to melt.
Check the temperature of the chocolate periodically
until melted. Be sure to keep it between 82-86 degrees F.
Move melted chocolate to a bowl. Stir in oil until evenly
blended. Mix in fruit and nuts.
Spread chocolate mixture onto ½-inch thick prepared
baking sheet. Set bark aside at room temperature to
harden. Break into angled pieces.
8. nog
Egg
As far back as the 17th century, “nog” referred
to a style of strong beer brewed in East Anglia.
Modern eggnog is believed to have descended
from a thick medieval concoction of hot milk,
booze and spices.
The egg-based drink is said to have found
popularity in American colonies, where there
was easy access to cows, chickens and rum.
Traditional Eggnog is often made with
bourbon, rum or brandy.
9. Make it Yourself
Yields: 12-16 servings
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1hr
Ingredients:
6 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
Preparation:
Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar and salt in a heavy 3- or 4-quart
pan to combine. Continue whisking to slowly add milk.
On the lowest burner setting, stir until temperature
reaches 160 degrees F.
Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a large bowl and
add vanilla extract and nutmeg.
Let mixture chill in fridge for at least 4 hours. When
ready to serve, fold whipped cream into mixture.
10. read
gerb s
Gin kie
Coo
Gingerbread was a favorite treat at festivals and
fairs in medieval Europe and is often decorated
to look like a variety of celebratory shapes.
North Americans have been baking gingerbread
for more than 200 years.
Nowadays gingerbread generally refers to either
a dense ginger-spiced cookie or a dark ginger
flavored cake.
11. Make it
Yourself
Yields: 3 dozen 3-inch cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Bake time: 10-12 min
Preparation:
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 stick unsalted butter at room temp
¼ cup vegetable shortening at room temp
½ cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
Icing
Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and
pepper into medium sized bowl. In a large bowl beat butter and
vegetable shortening. Add brown sugar, then beat in molasses and
egg. Gradually mix in flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Refrigerate
until chilled (usually about 3 hours).
Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature
for 30 minutes. Roll out dough, cut cookies with cookie cutter, and
transfer to nonstick cookie sheets.
Place filled sheets in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp.
Let sit, add icing and enjoy.
12. Although latkes are primarily associated with
Hanukkah, latkes first descended from Italian
pancakes that were made with ricotta cheese.
The first connection between Hanukkah and
pancakes was made by Rabbi Kalonymus ben
Kalonymus in Italy (1286-1328). He included
pancakes in a list of dishes to serve at a Purim feast.
After the Spanish expelled the Jews from Sicily in
1492 the exiles introduced their ricotta pancakes
to the Jews of northern Italy and it became a
classic Hanukkah dish.
Potato latkes are more recent and came about after
a series of crop failures in Poland and the Ukraine in
the mid 1800s.
The failure lead to a mass planting of potatoes
changing the latke of choice from cheese to potato.
kes
Lat
13. Make it
Yourself
Yields: 8 servings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6-8 min each
Ingredients:
1½ pounds peeled russet potatoes
¼ cup finely chopped shallots
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons flour or matzo meal
1½ teaspoons salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
In a food processor grate the potatoes. Line with a cheesecloth
and transfer potatoes to the sieve. Set sieve over a bowl, twist
cheesecloth into a pouch and squeeze out some moisture. Let
mixture drain for 25 minutes.
Pour off liquid from bowl and leave white potato starch in the
bottom of the bowl. Add shallots, eggs, flour and salt and pepper
to the starch. Return drained potatoes to mixture and toss to
combine.
Line baking pan with paper towels and in a large skillet heat 1/4
inch of oil over medium heat. Drop heaping tablespoons of
potato mixture onto the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes a side.
Put in oven to keep warm.
14. Pie
pkin
Pum
The first pumpkin pie recipe recorded
dates back to 1651.
The pumpkin pie is said to have been
created about 50 years afterward.
In North America, the Native Americans
brought pumpkins as gifts to the first
American settlers around the time of
the first Thanksgiving.
It was not until 1796 that a truly
American cookbook was published that
included recipes similar to that of the
modern day pumpkin pie.
15. Make it
Yourself
Preparation:
Yields: 6-8 servings
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 50 min
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Ingredients:
Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down
into pie pan and press along edges. Put the
pie shell into the freezer for 1 hour to firm.
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
¼ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream for topping
For the filling, in a large bowl, beat the cream
cheese, add the pumpkin and beat until
combined. Next add the sugar and salt and
beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed
with yolks, half and half, and melted butter
and beat. Finally add the vanilla, cinnamon,
and ginger and beat.
Pour filling into the warm prepared pie crust
and bake for 50 minutes or until center is set.
Cut into slices and top with whipped cream.
16. uche
B
Noel
de
The history of the Yule Log cake
stretches all the way back to Europe’s
Iron Age, before the Medieval Era.
Celtic Brits and Gaelic Europeans
would gather to welcome the winter
solstice at December’s end.
To cleanse the air of the previous year’s
events and to usher in the spring,
families would burn logs decorated
with holly, pinecones or ivy.
Once burned the log’s ashes were
valuable treasures said to have
medicinal benefits and to guard
against evil.
As the tradition continued the first
Yule log cake appeared around the
early 1600s.
Parisian bakers popularized the
cake in the 19th century.
17. Make it
Yourself
Yields: 12 servings
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 15 min
Preparation:
Ingredients:
Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl whip cream, ½ cup
confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thick and stiff. Refrigerate.
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 egg whites
¼ cup white sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl beat egg yolks with ½ cup sugar until thick and pale. Blend 1/3 cup cocoa,
vanilla extract and salt. In a large glass bowl whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add
1/4 cup sugar and beat. Immediately fold the yolk mixture into the whites. Spread batter
evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 12-15 minutes in the oven. Then starting at the short edge of the cake, roll the
cake up with a towel dusted in confectioners’ sugar. Let cool for 30 minutes.
Unroll the cake and spread with filling. Roll up cake with filling inside. Place seam side
down and refrigerate until ready to serve.
